Page 77 of Infamous

‘I have no idea where any of this has come from. But at the same time, I think .?.?. God, why have we not been doing this all along?’

Rose laughed, which gave Eddie’s head a thorough shaking.

‘Wehave. I think we first kissed when we were .?.?. twelve?’

‘But it was never likethis,’ Eddie said, bringing her hands up to either side of Rose’s waist and stroking her there, just to see if she would react (she did).

There was a long silence, during which Eddie briefly wondered if Rose had grown bored of her attentions and fallen asleep. Eventually Rose’s hand disappeared from her hair. She sounded as if she were talking through her fingers when she next spoke.

‘It sort of .?.?.wasfor me, Eddie.’

Eddie sat up, startled. Rose did indeed have her hands pressed to her face, as if she were horrified by the words coming out of her mouth.

‘What –always? When we used to fall asleep in each other’s arms on your bed waiting for dinner to be ready? When we jumped in the sea that night in Brighton with hardly any clothes on?’

‘All of the time, Eddie,’ Rose said, sounding pained. ‘I tried not to, I promise. I did a lot of very agonised praying about it. But nothing helped – no god or mortal could undo it. I would wake up in the morning determined not to notice you any more, but then I would catch my first glimpse of you practically falling down the stairs to greet me for dinner or hear your ridiculous knock on my door and know you were on the other side of it, and .?.?. all was lost.’

Eddie considered her. Her face was still obscured by her fingers, and Eddie reached up to prise them away.

‘I am so sorry, Rose. I truly had no idea.’

‘I know,’ said Rose, finally looking Eddie in the eye. ‘I hope .?.?. Eddie, I hope you understand, then .?.?. I cannot just kiss you tonight and forget it tomorrow. That’s why I need to know .?.?.’

Eddie took one of the hands she had removed from Rose’s face and kissed the palm of it, very gently, at the soft little intersection between index finger and thumb. She still didn’t know what it meant, exactly, that she felt this way – but shedidknow with utmost certainty that now she’d had a taste of how things could be between them, she would always want more. How could she not? It wasRose.

‘It’s real,’ she said, turning Rose’s hand over so that she could kiss the back of it, too.

‘But how can you say that? Just five minutes ago you were asking—’

‘Rose, I will not argue with you that when it comes to certain matters, I can be very, very stupid. Painfully so. It’s a wonder I’m still breathing and have all of my original bones. But it is just as you said before – I throw myself into things wholeheartedly. And I could never love you with anything less. I did not see it before, but .?.?. but now that I do, I don’t think I shall ever want to look away. Despite all my failings, I am notthatmuch of an idiot.’

Rose smiled shakily; there were tears threatening to spill over in her eyes.

‘I shall need you to keep saying it,’ she said firmly, trying to blink them away. ‘Or I will never believe it.’

Eddie smiled at her and brushed away the one tear that had escaped.

‘It’s real,’ she said, kissing Rose’s wrist. She got up on all fours above her, so that she could reach Rose’s throat to kiss her there. ‘I swear, Rose. It’s real.’

Rose turned her head away, her lip catching in her teeth, but Eddie took her gently by the chin and turned her back.

‘It’s—’

Rose kissed her hard, pulling her down so that every inch of their bodies was touching. Eddie felt Rose’s hand, bolder than it had been before, slide down her body until it reached the very top of her thigh. Eddie attempted to mirror her, her own hand starting somewhere around Rose’s knee and travelling northwards under her shift, and smiled into the kiss when she discovered that the graze of her fingernails made Rose gasp helplessly into her mouth.

‘You feel sogood,’ Eddie said, marvelling at the way Rose’s breath hitched and her eyes squeezed shut, as if she were completely overcome.

‘I .?.?. I have no idea what I’m doing,’ Rose whispered, her grip tightening on Eddie’s leg.

‘Well, nor do I,’ said Eddie, watching Rose’s face with fascination and witnessing a myriad of expressions cross it as she moved her fingers higher. ‘How do you feel?’

‘As if I might die,’ said Rose, laughing softly and pressing herself harder into Eddie’s hand.

‘Don’t die yet. Not before I’ve had my wicked way with you.’

Rose looked as if she wanted to laugh again, but at the sight of Eddie’s expression her eyes went wide instead.

‘And what does that entail?’